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Help me convince DH to do BLW

After doing much research, I've decided that we are going to do BLW. Even though he was on board when I started looking into it a month ago, now DH is convinced that DS will sleep better if we start giving him rice cereal now. DS is 5 months old. I've been googling my heart out but I can't seem to find any good articles starting that rice cereal is unnecessary and the sleeping better thing is a myth. All I can find is people stating that without any facts. Please help me.

Background: He has a son from a previous marriage who is now 9 and they were told to give him cereal when he was 3 months old. They also smoked inside with an infant, FF because his ex-wife didn't want to be tied down by BF and let him CIO at 8 weeks old, so their parenting "style" is very different then what we been doing with DS.

Re: Help me convince DH to do BLW

The recent thread on pediatric news has some interesting information on infant feeding, specifically, what to feed. The initial article references a research paper that is referenced further down in the thread. That might help.

"Somewhere between four and six months, but probably closer to six months, your baby will be ready for solid foods. By that age, he will be able to move food to the back of his mouth to swallow and his digestive system will be better able to handle solids. You baby will give you signs he is ready for solids. To start, he will be much more aware of his surroundings. He may reach out for your food, put objects in his mouth, watch you closely as you eat and seem hungry after feedings."

Re: Help me convince DH to do BLW

baby led solids and baby led weaning are the same thing .... just depends on where in the world you are Both terms refer to offering baby WHOLE foods and letting baby self regulate and lead the solids path (also referred to as the beginning of weaning because breastmilk stops becoming the only source of nutrition).

The main principle behind BLS/BLW is that you NOT feed the baby. Baby feeds himself. and that you offer whole foods that are not processed.

The links provided above have great info . Here is another link you might find useful

Taken from above link:

Many parents worry about babies choking. However, there is good reason to believe that babies are at less risk of choking if they are in control of what goes into their mouth than if they are spoon fed. This is because babies are not capable of intentionally moving food to the back of their throats until after they have developed the ability to chew. And they do not develop the ability to chew until after they have developed the ability to reach out and grab things. The ability to pick up very small things develops later still. Thus, a very young baby cannot easily put himself at risk because he cannot get small pieces of food into his mouth. Spoon feeding, by contrast, encourages the baby to suck the food straight to the back of his mouth, potentially making choking more likely.

~Jenn~

mother of 2 boys!08/14/98~~03/20/08Birth: 7lbs 12oz, 1 year: 22lbs 11oz until he self-weaned 4 days before his third birthday ... still on occasion ... and happily ************************************************** ************************************************** *****************People need to understand that when they're deciding between breastmilk and formula, they're not deciding between Coke and Pepsi.... They're choosing between a live, pure substance and a dead substance made with the cheapest oils available. ~Chele Marmet

Re: Help me convince DH to do BLW

The Gil Rapley book made all the difference in the world at my house for getting my husband on board with the idea. He didn't even read the whole thing - and you don't have to. You can turn to the relevant bullet points, if he wants to read more he can. Something about it being in writting, in a bound book, makes it easier to change their minds sometimes... Plus I found it helpful to ease my own fears before starting.